Buckeye Running Co. Long Run

Time: 149:10
Distance: 33.11k
Pace: 4:30
Map

After the race on Thanksgiving, Meagan and I struck up a conversation with the woman who placed third overall. Her name was Amy and in our brief chatting we learned she lives in Mason not to far from my family's home. We had hoped to get her digits after changing into warm dry clothes, but couldn't locate her after the swarms of people had finished. I put out a message hoping to find her via Facebook and thankfully Amy was able to reach out to Meagan.

On the way back into Mason, my uncle pointed out a new running store called the Buckeye Running Co. Meagan and I visited yesterday during an outing and ended up chatting with the owner Steve. He told us that a group was running long at 7 AM from the store which provided the perfect venue for us to meet up with Amy.

Meagan and I shuffled over to the store and met some of the other runners in the group. We learned of the route and then grouped up for what would be my longest run since last year's Thunder Road Marathon. The route would take us down to the Loveland Path that runs from Cincinnati to Cleveland. Meagan and I have done workouts on the path path before and I have run here a number of times. It's a little sketchy getting down to the path, but then you are welcomed by a flat, paved blacktop that runs for miles along the Little Miami River.

It was fun hearing about Amy's story and her husband who works for Peet's coffee. I see a trade for some shoes and apparel in the near future. Meagan and I did some pickups which simply consisted of 5 x 1 minute hard with about 4 to 5 minutes rest. I wanted to get the legs turned over to break up the monotony of the long run. I was actually feeling pretty solid running with the two women and considered picking up the pace, but realized I was content to just put time on the feet.

We finished up back at the running store and were treated by bagels and chocolate milk. I didn't partake in the bagels (the whole gluten free thing), but that milk tasted damn good. And, it's good for recovery. I see it becoming a common sight in our refrigerator soon.